In the game of golf, the need to clean the ball occurs with great frequency because of the varied soil and grass conditions existing at any one time on the golf course along the path of play. The ball not only becomes camouflaged with grass stains, mud and water stains, so that it is difficult to follow in flight and almost impossible to find once it rolls to a stop on the fairway, in the rough or a sand trap, but also is quite often affected in its direction of flight, direction of roll out or putting accuracy by foreign matter that clings to its suface. This problem has been thoroughly recognized by those who control golf course designs, and it is not at all uncommon to find golf ball washers of various design permanently installed at points near the club houses or pro-shops or on the individual tees used to begin the play on each of the various holes 1 thru 9 or 1 thru 18; however, the tees for the various holes are in fact many yards, mostly 100 yards to 300 yards or further from the putting greens where the greatest accuracy is required. The golf ball most normally needs cleaning along its way from the tee to the putting green or upon its arrival on the putting green for it is along this path that it comes in contact with the elements that get it dirty, yet normally there is no means to clean it until the next tee has been reached.
Therefore, the player must at various points along the route of play throw out another ball, or for that matter several balls, if he has them available, to achieve the maximum playing accuracy possible which may be better obtained with a clean and truly spherical ball. This is not always possible as it often takes several balls to reach the putting green where the most accuracy is required, and the distance from the putting green to the next tee or the previous tee is too great for a player to traverse back and forth to clean a ball prior to putting it in putting play where perhaps the greatest roll out accuracy of the game is required and where a ball containing foreign materials is most desirable because said foreign materials may have the greatest effect upon the ball's accuracy during intricate putting maneuvers.
The present invention provides an efficient and conveniently sized golf ball washer that will readily fit in a golf bag pocket or that may be conveniently hung on the outer surface of a golf bag and thereby be readily available to the golfer at all times during the playing period. Further, it provides such features as a unique water-tight seal which prevents contained fluids from spilling out, large and convenient openings which allow for easy cleaning and the replacement of cleansing solutions as they are depleted and convenient means for insertion and extraction of golf balls.